A Winter Snowbird

With a week off I wanted to leave town for a few days and it has been months since I have been up to the Snowbird hut. GeorgeAnne had the time free and her s/o Andrew did too, and Ry also has an abundance of time these days so we decided to spend a couple nights up there mid week.

It was a bit of a slog down the road and we had just passed the angry resident moose and pulled off to take a break at the Reed Lakes trailhead when my good friend Rapheal pulled up on his snowmachine. We got a little help to the bottom of the first big hill.

All of us plus Rapheal

The conditions touring up to the hut were pretty ideal...but it still is a bit of a journey and we didn't end up pulling into the hut until after dark...having a GPS with maps on it is pretty amazing in the dark. It also helped that the hut was illuminated by its occupants Leo and Kevin.

Skinning up to the first big hill...

When we got up the next morning it took a couple cups of coffee to get going... George Anne and Andrew both had gotten some nasty looking blisters and weren't really feeling it...Kevin was also moving slow. So Leo, Ryan and I headed out the door into the milk together.
Ryan at the top...

For a short, old guy, Leo kicked our asses...he broke trail through the 4-6 inches faster than I could follow without being out of breath. It was pretty awesome really.

It was overcast and the light was by no means great but the views were still pretty and the run had some variable snow in the middle but the last stretch was butter cream powder.

The snow was definitely worthy to have another go on the other obvious couloir full of pretty snow..

Ryan Skiing the second line..

A look up at our lines with amazing visibility at sunrise ... We skied the obvious far left and far right line...

Hut camping is the way to go. The snowbird hut is amazing, I could easily kill a day doing nothing but looking out the windows.

We woke up to a beautiful blue bird day, it was so unexpected and lovely. We packed up and headed back up and over the pass toward town.

Ry heading up the Snowbird glacier....

The Pass

The sun and snow on the other side was dreamy. It truly could not have been any better. I've hiked down this trail many times, but skiing is the best way to go.

Heading down...

Sun, Snow, Friends....

A great trip, one I look forward to doing again...its amazing what looks skiable when all the boulder fields are filled in with snow...Hatcher pass has more snow this winter than its had in years...

Caribou Creek

Its a good thing that I have short term memory problems, otherwise I probably would never go climb at Caribou creek. Everything about a day out there is long:  the 2 hr drive, the 2hr approach, and the routes. Not many people had been back there recently, and the other tracks we saw turned around just past Kids Corner. It was a bit of a slog through the snow to get to the end.

Ryan with Redemption in the Background

 

Rhythm and Blues Looking Fat

 

Ryan won the rosh for the first pitch, it didn't look that bad, but it felt unrelentingly steep. By the time I reached the top of the first pitch, my right crampon was severely compromised. I somehow sheared the bolt that was holding the front points of my crampons on, eliminating the possibility of further progression.

 Ryan Leading the First Pitch of Cantellya

 

Ryan and I saw three foxes on the way in, and four moose. I felt bad we scared them into post-holing to the end of the valley. They were really wallowing through the deep snow.

Three Scared Moose

 

Robo Pick was super thin,and the other route past Robo Pick wasn't in at all. I really need to get a snow machine.

Eklutna Canyon

Usually I've been to Eklutna Canyon at least 10 times by this point in the ice season, but this year has been different, and this was my first time back. I won the rosh for Ripple, but forgot my crampons, so lost it in the end. It's so annoying to forget key pieces of gear.

Ripple on a Diet

 

Ryan and the Dam

 

Mad Dog was in its usual anemic state, TJ Swann had a little curtain, but no pillar, Boonesfarm was huge, Annie Greensprings was thin at the bottom and fat up top, and the Dam was in with a huge pool of water below the ice. I need to remember that going climbing is only partly about the climb, but also about the nice walks through beautiful canyons, and I definitely need the exercise!

Hunter Creek

I have never seen so much snow in Hunter Creek before, it was coating the walls and piled high on the river. The approach was as straight forward as I have ever seen it. It was a winter wonder land.

Caitlin and I skied back, but the trail was packed and easily walkable. I pretty much sucked at taking pictures this day. I didn't get one picture of the route we climbed, Lost Chord.

 

Conditions were spring like, soft and warm, a very pleasant afternoon.

 

We skied back to the fork but there was no way across without getting our feet wet....so we stopped.

The Bridge Across Hunter Creek

 

A Look at Ninilchik

Ryan and I parked at the Ninilchik Harbor and could barely see what looked like ice on the bluffs. The climbs in the guidebook sounded a lot more compelling than the routes turned out to be. Standing below the climbs they were really unappealing. Rampy grade 1-2 that terminated in at tops 15 feet of steep ice. Total length anywhere from 30-75 feet.

 

We hemmed and hawed about whether or not to break out the ropes, but in the end just couldn't suck it up and do it. I'm sure the routes were steeper, longer, and harder than they looked, but they just looked so lame.

 

 

So we kept driving back to town. It was nice to spend a few days out of Anchorage exploring an area I haven't been. It was good to get out and this trip definitely sparked my motivation to get back in climbing shape.

Maybe this was 20 feet tall, Maybe

 

A Short Day at the Bluffs

After a minor morning setback doing crampon repairs, Ryan and I returned to Saltwater Drive, and descended down the bluffs. We walked past all the same climbs and decided to try and top rope Red Line, a beautiful unrelentingly steep amalgamation of thinly bonded icicles. A whole lot of post holing, and one rappel later we were back on the beach, no closer to our goal.

Ryan on the Beach

 

Neither of us were feeling up to leading Dog Day, although in retrospect......I'm always much braver.

So we climbed back up to the rim on Close to Home, a deceptively awkward, ledgy, single pitch climb, and went back to our sweet little place above the Mermaid Bookstore.

 

Homer is definitely a worthy weekend destination when the ice is in. I'd like to come back with bigger biceps and more mo-jo and get on the pretty lines.

 

Ice Climbing on the Homer Bluffs

Homer sounded like a glorious destination amidst the negative digit temperatures that have been lurking in the Anchorage area. I've never been there in the winter and word on the great internet was that the ice was in.

We parked at the end of Saltwater drive and ran into a crusty local named Bill and his cleaner more modern counterpart with AMS logos. He told us about a fixed rappel line over the bluffs, it was a pretty straight forward approach.

Looking Down the Bluffs, Two People Walking

 

Ryan at the Bottom of the Rappel

 

The approach to the climbs along the beach was as good as it gets. There were 3 stellar climbs off the beach, and a handful of smaller less aesthetic lines all within a 1/2 mile or so.

I've been unmotivated to climb the standard local circuits this winter and am horribly out of shape. I am not an off the couch grade 4 or 5 ice climber...but oh how those lines are the most appealing looking. So we skipped Red Line and Dog Day and instead went up a very fat and perfect Bored Walk. It was a super fun climb, and in direct sunlight...bonus!

Ryan Rappelling Over Bored Walk

 

With more daylight to play with we did the first pitch of Dog Day, then walked down the beach past the rappel line in and climbed a single pitch grade 3 to get back to the rim. A nice day out with sun, and the sounds of the ocean.

 

Victoria's Secret

Ah the ice gym has proper ice on it this year!

Victoria's Secret

 

 

 

Resort Skiing at Whistler Blackcomb

The Whistler Blackcomb ski area is almost incomprehensibly huge. There are 37 lifts that can move up to 60,000 people an hour. I've never skied outside of Alaska, and it was pretty shocking all the terrain that was open at a resort.

Lynn, Ryan and I

 

We took three different lifts to reach the top of the mountain.

 

The coolest lift was the Peak to Peak gondola. It stretched 2.3 miles across the valley and connected Blackcomb mountain to Whistler mountain midway. It was amazing.

 

Between Lynn, Ryan and I, we managed to convince Andrew to try skiing instead of snow boarding. Ryan gave him a tough love lesson, it just reminded me that I'm so glad I learned how to ski when I was young and falling was less painful.

 

The weather was not ideal while we were there. It rained a lot, snowed a little, and the mountains were mostly obscured the whole time we were there.

 

Lynn also got a tough love lesson from Ryan...

Lynn and I

 

All in all it was super fun and I'm glad I got to experience mega resort style skiing. Thanks to Lynn and Andrew for making it possible, I never would have made it without them!

Vancouver to Whistler BC

Lynn invited Ryan and I along on her and her husband Andrew's ski vacation to Whistler BC. We arrived in Vancouver on the same flight, and spent the day enjoying some of the city.

 

Jappa Dogs

 

After a couple stops for coffee, a Jappa Dog, and some take out Indian food, we were back in the mini van and heading to Whistler. It was a little rainy out.

Drive to Whistler

 

I know I'm on vacation when I'm drinking extra large margaritas with a pink plastic camel as an accessory.